Guiche (The artist is currently working on the color.)
Chapter 10
“Why am I still C-Rank!?” I stare at the guild receptionist.
She turns the page on her novel. “I don't know.”
“Gah!” I turn from the lazy one and focus on her co-worker. “Lina! How could you do this to me again? Betrayed not once, but twice!”
“Haha…” Lina shows me a disarming smile. “You brought proof of the quest's completion this time, so it's been added to your record. But it's not so easy to climb an entire rank, and finishing a single B-Rank mission isn't enough.”
“What!? I thought I was at the top of C-Rank, just barely below the B-Rank line! Are you saying I'm actually a bottom-tier C-Rank who needs to spend months grinding quests in order to rank up!?”
“Isn't that normal?”
“Yes!”
“Then what's the problem, again?”
“Everything!”
“Let it go.” Guiche brings out a never before seen rose and gives it a sniff. “We'll allow you to tag along with us, even if you are a bottom-tier C-Rank.”
“Grrr. To think I'd fall so low as to be the butt of Quiche’s jokes.” I point to him. “This is all your fault, you know!”
“What do I have to do with your ranking?”
“It's because you keep tagging along! The guild thinks I'm leeching off you, when the truth is the opposite!”
He holds the rose out. “Never in my wildest dreams would I ever consider becoming a leech. They are one of the most foul and disgusting creatures in existence.”
“It's a metaphor!”
“Well in the future, I request that any metaphors targeting me be limited only to the most beautiful and graceful animals. Perhaps a cat, or a bird.”
“Okay, bird it is.” I turn to Zoe and look at her cat ears. “Just don't make any sudden movements around her, unless you wanna get eaten.”
Guiche meet's Zoe's eyes. The spirit girl doesn't have a shred of animosity in her gaze, yet the young noble still watches her with a bit of fear.
Somewhere in his subconscious, he still remembers getting bonked in the head by her when they first met. Though it's not something he himself even realizes.
“Quest?” Lyra takes the opportunity to completely change the subject.
“It's a little late to take a new one, so maybe tomorrow. And since we just got paid for taking down the wyvern, I say we celebrate!”
“Didn't we have plans for the money we earned?”
“Don't be so stingy. What's the point of life if you don't live a little?”
“I can think of a few important points.” Lyra's no doubt referring to the fact we need money to travel to the mist.
“Don't worry. I've got a plan for that.” I stand tall. “And my plans never fail.”
“Should I remind you of all the times they did?”
“I don't remember anything like that happening.”
“What a conveniently subjective memory.”
Since we've already received our reward for defeating the wyvern, there's nothing else for us to do in the guild.
Guiche and his troupe don't follow us this time. He says something about getting ready for an important mission in a few days. After apologizing for not being able to join us on tomorrow's quest, he takes his leave.
Although I said it's too late to start a new job today, it's only an hour or so past noon, so there's still plenty of time left in the day. And I plan to use it for something very specific.
“So,” I say as we step out of the guild. “There's a place in town I need to visit. Though it's not really the place that's interesting. It's the person who owns it.”
“And who is it that we're going to meet?”
“Selkie. A former companion of mine.”
“You don't mean…”
“Yep. One of the people who accompanied me fifteen years ago. She was a young mage back then, but she was one of the most powerful in the world. I'm curious just how much she's grown.”
Zoe’s cat ears twitch. “Was she your girlfriend?”
Lyra looks at the little spirit. “What do you mean girlfriend? He said they traveled together, so how does that make them a couple?”
“You human types always like to pair up, right?”
“That doesn't mean they were like that.” Lyra looks to me next. “Were you?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Though I think she was planning on kidnapping me after we put a stop to the mist.”
“Huh? Kidnap?”
“Let's just say I overheard her and one of my other companions talking one night. And they were making some really scary plans.”
“I'm curious about those plans, but I suppose I'll ask about it later.” Lyra turns her eyes down the street we're walking. “Are we going to meet her now?”
“Yep. I felt her mana presence almost as soon as we came to the city, so I did a bit of investigating already. She set up a magic academy near the guild, which isn't surprising.”
“You know her so well!” Zoe smiles innocently. “You two really were close!”
“Over a year of fighting and traveling together will do that. Selkie wanted to spread her knowledge to as many adventurers and soldiers as possible. A large city near the mist is the perfect place for her, and setting up next to the Adventurer's Guild means she'll be in the prime location to reach as many of them as she can.”
“So she wants to make them stronger? She sounds like a really nice person!”
“Yeah, that's a really selfless thing to do, isn't it? Like a saint giving everything they have to others to better their lives at the expense of her own.” I stop in my tracks and look up at the mid-afternoon sky. “If only that were the case!”
“Eh?” Zoe tilts her head. “It's not?”
“That selfish girl just can't stand to see how poorly other mages are taught. Selkie said that if other masters were teaching their pupils such worthless magic and techniques, then they should just hang up their wand and find another line of work, because they're not helping anyone but themselves with their poor teachings.”
“Wha? Human mages are that bad at teaching?” Zoe wrinkles her nose slightly. “It was really easy to make their heads go funny…”
“Well, there's a wide spectrum. Some teachers are really good, but there are also a lot of amateurs masquerading as masters. Selkie always wanted to start an academy not only to teach adventurers but also to teach other teachers.”
“Ah! She wants to train masters!”
“Exactly. Easier to spread knowledge wide if you focus on training those who will go on to train others. And with her status as my former companion, she should be able to attract a lot of talent. That's why I'm curious to see how well her magic academy is doing.”
As stated, Selkie’s academy isn't far from the guild. By the time we finish the conversation, it's already in sight.
Rising from the buildings around it is a gated estate, the courtyard surrounding the academy filled with benches, gazebos, and other outside furnishings.
But the most impressive thing isn't the size of the academy with the expensive real estate here at the city center. Nor is it the architectural design or well-kept courtyard that catches my attention.
No, the most impressive thing here is the large number of students filling the courtyard.
“As expected of Selkie.” I nod in approval. “She probably twisted a lot of wrists to build such a successful academy. And I mean that literally.”
“What are you saying, exactly?” Lyra scans the courtyard through the metal fence.
“Nothing. You'll meet her soon, and I'm sure you'll figure her out pretty quickly.”
The gate is open, so we walk right into the courtyard. There are guards, but they must only be there to stop suspicious people from entering because they barely give us a glance as we pass by.
Selkie, Selkie. I wonder how you've been these last fifteen years.
The academy's courtyard is wide and open, with cemented cobblestone paths.
The trails aren't made of the typical large, gray rocks that most roads use. Rather, the colorful stones are a decorative feature all to themselves, brightening up the courtyard as they cut through the grass and lead the students and staff to the academy's various outside constructions.
All about, those pupils and instructors can be seen, the former soaking up the magical knowledge of the latter.
“Hey,” Zoe points toward a group of young students. “They're as small as me.”
“Hmm.” I look between my spirit companion and the young students. “I think you still have a few years of growing ahead of you to catch up to them.”
“I can grow! I can grow much bigger than them, too!”
“Then hurry up and grow. It's not easy to keep explaining away why I have a five-year-old girl fighting monsters with me, you know.”
“No. I don't want to.”
“Don't make me inject you with a bazillion nano units of spirit power and forcefully make you grow.”
“Bazil-wah? Nano-huh? And I'm not gonna get injected!”
“He's just spewing nonsense,” Lyra says. “Though I have seen him feed a spirit before.”
“They got injected!?”
“That's right.” I extend just my index finger and slowly reach out toward Zoe. “Now it's your turn.”
“Wah!?” She scuttles behind Lyra, peeking out and watching my finger.
During our playful exchange, we've made it well into the academy courtyard, following a path that leads to the front entrance of the large building that dominates the plot of land.
Despite having come this far inside, not a single person has given us a suspicious look. With such a variety of pupils around, our group doesn't stand out in the slightest, despite Zoe's young age.
Unlike a university on Earth, this academy isn't so strict when it comes to the age of the students. The spectrum is quite wide, from young kids in their single-digit years to ones well into adulthood.
Selkie always did like training children. There's a reason she and Rosa got along well back during our journeys together.
Lyra looks around the academy. “It feels a little different from the Adventurer's Guild. More structured.”
“Selkie does like everything to be in its place. For example…” I motion towards several groups in the courtyard. “Even though there's a large age variance, the instructors are separated by which age group they teach. The older the students, the more difficult the magical training.”
I watch on as a kid in his mid-teens tries and fails to cast a spell. “Those who join the academy too late might find it difficult to keep up with the lessons. That's why Selkie runs remedial sessions at night to help the ones who arrived late or have fallen behind due to reasons outside their control, like illnesses.”
Lyra turns to me. “Did you really research this place so much?”
“Nope, I haven't done any digging other than just finding out where the academy is located. But I spent countless nights talking to Selkie about how we were going to build this academy after putting a stop to the mist. Knowing her, she implemented most of the things that would help spread magical knowledge effectively.”
When we get near the academy's front door, we finally run into someone who takes an interest in us.
The woman is a few years past her prime, but she's still young and healthy enough to be an adventurer, if she wanted. Instead, she's a teacher here at the academy, as evidenced by the uniform they all wear.
No, she was probably an adventurer before coming here. It's the best way to get stronger, and those with real combat experience can teach others much better.
And going by the three stripes on her collar, she's probably one of the more advanced teachers here.
That means she should have some authority.
“Excuse me,” the female teacher says as she exits the building we're trying to enter. “I don't recall seeing any of you three before. Are you here to sign up for lessons?”
“Hello, Professor. You're quite observant to realize we're new amongst all the students here. I'm Triton, and this is…”
“Lyra.”
“Zoe!”
The teacher's eyes linger on Zoe. “She's too young to apply. I suggest coming back in 2 or 3 years.”
“I'm not small.”
“And,” I continue for her. “We're not here to apply. I just want to talk to Selkie.”
“You?” The teacher looks me up and down. “Selkie is one of the most powerful and influential mages in the kingdom. She can't be bothered to meet with every person who idolizes her.”
“Idolize? No way. But I will compliment her if she can help me out. That should put her in a good mood.”
At least, it did back when we traveled together. Though there was a very specific reason why it made her happy.
“My answer won't change,” the teacher says. “And I've got students arriving soon. If you're not here to apply, then please leave. You're crowding the path.”
“Hold on just a second. I haven't even used my trump card.” I pull a white rose out from my Void Space. “Give this to Selkie and tell her it's from Triton. I'm sure she'll appreciate it.”
The teacher's eyes go a bit wide at the appearance of the flower. As expected, someone with a high rank here at the academy would know about Selkie's love of this particular variety of rose.
In truth, I'm the one who got her to love it by telling her how good it looked as an accessory when she wore it in her purple hair.
But I'll keep that little detail away from this teacher.
Perhaps thinking that I know Selkie, the teacher agrees to deliver my message, alongside the white rose.
As for us, we wait outside. Or rather, she tells us to stay put, so that's what we do.
Since I can track presences, it's completely obvious to me where Selkie is. My eyes are locked onto her location within the building, though the outer wall blocks my vision.
Soon, my gaze begins to move, making a trail across the third floor of the academy, down to the second floor, then the first. Quicker than most would expect, my eyes end up on the main entrance where that teacher had recently been standing.
“Triton!?” The front door of the academy bursts open, a purple-haired woman standing in the doorway.
I wave to get Selkie's attention. “Hello.”
Her eyes lock on me, the anticipation slowly fading to disappointment. “Who are you?”
“I'm Triton.”
“You're fifteen years old, aren't you?”
“Yeah.”
“That's how you got his name.” Selkie holds up the white rose. “But how'd you know about this?”
“What do you mean? I just thought you'd appreciate the beauty of that rose.” I hit my palm with the side of my fist, as if suddenly remembering something. “Oh, but if you want to know where I got the idea, I recently teamed up with an adventurer group called The Alabaster Rose. Alabaster means white, so white rose, you know?”
Rather than listening to my words, Selkie is far more focused on my hands. My fist is still being held in my palm, though it's becoming a little awkward to keep them in that position, so I slowly lower them.
As my hands fall, Selkie's eyes rise. Eventually, they meet mine. Since her gaze had to pass right over my lips to reach my eyes, I'm certain she saw the smirk on my face very clearly.
“You…”
I point to myself. “Me?”
“To my office.”
“Oh, no problem. The two are coming with me, though.”
“Sure.” Selkie turns to the teacher. “Thanks. Now go cram as much knowledge into those nobles as their egos will allow.”
“I’ll do what I can.” She walks by us, her eyes telling me that she's become curious about this strange situation.
“Follow.” Selkie turns. “And don't fall behind.”
With her usual no-nonsense attitude, Selkie, the leader of this reputable magical academy and former member of my adventuring party, begins leading us to her office.
[Selkie!]
